Cartoon Network has announced that The Boondocks is (finally) returning for a fourth and final season on April 21st on Adult Swim. This final group of episodes was produced without the involvement of Aaron McGruder, the show’s creator.

Here are the details:

“The Boondocks” Returns to Adult Swim for Fourth and Final Season

Season 4 of Award-Winning Animated Series to Premiere April 21, 2014

The Boondocks, the award-winning animated series returns for its final season on Monday, April 21 at 10:30p.m (ET/PT) on Adult Swim. The Boondocks is produced by Sony Pictures Television. This season was produced without the involvement of Aaron McGruder, when a mutually agreeable production schedule could not be determined.

In The Boondocks, Robert “Granddad” Freeman (John Witherspoon, Friday After Next) is the cantankerous legal guardian of his rambunctious grandkids Huey and Riley (Regina King-Southland and Ray) and has moved them from the south side of Chicago to the quiet and safety of “The Boondocks” (in this case, suburban Woodcrest), hoping that he can ignore them altogether and enjoy the golden years of his life in peace. But Huey, a 10-year-old left wing revolutionary, is determined not to enjoy the affluence of suburbia. This attitude is seconded by his 8-year-old brother, Riley, a proud product of contemporary rap culture. Although they torture each other and provoke the neighborhood, they are no match for Granddad, who is eccentric even by “crazy-ass-old-black-man” standards. Gary Anthony Williams (Boston Legal) as Uncle Ruckus, Gabby Soleil (Johnson Family Vacation) as Jazmine Dubois and Jill Talley (Camp Lazlo) as Sarah Dubois round out the cast, with Cedric Yarbrough (Reno 911!) returning as the voice of fan favorite Colonel H. Stinkmeaner in addition to Tom Dubois.

The new season finds Huey, Riley and Granddad encountering a roster of characters, both new and familiar, in uproarious situations, including Granddad’s dating a long lost Kardashian sister; their friend Tom DuBois acting as R&B bad boy “Pretty Boy Flizzy’s” lawyer in exchange for relationship advice; Granddad’s love affair with Siri on his new iPhone; and the Freemans’ foray into the lethal black market of the hair-care industry à la “Breaking Bad.” Throughout the final season, an eclectic mix of hip-hop artists, actors, comedians and media personalities will voice guest characters on the series, including Jenifer Lewis (Think Like a Man), Dennis Haysbert (24), Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, CeeLo, Lil Wayne, Donald Faison (Scrubs), Aisha Tyler (Balls of Fury), Kym Whitley (Reno 911!), Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris), Mo’Nique (The Parkers), Marion Ross (Happy Days), Tavis Smiley, Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Bill Duke (X-Men: The Last Stand), and Cedric the Entertainer (Talk to Me). Reprising their guest roles from last season are Xzibit, Charlie Murphy, MTV’s Sway and Katt Williams, among others.

Since the debut of the first season in 2005, The Boondocks has been one of Adult Swim’s most popular original series. In 2007, the provocative series was recognized with the prestigious Peabody Award for the episode titled, “Return of the King,” in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awakens from a coma and reacts to contemporary phenomena from gangsta rap to the war on terror. In 2005, the series was nominated for a NAACP Image Award in the category of “Outstanding Comedy Series.

Sony Pictures Television (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com), a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry’s leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, around the world and for a multitude of platforms. In addition to one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) boasts a current program slate that includes top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. In addition to its US production business, SPT has 16 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies in 12 countries and also maintains offices in 32 countries. SPT’s worldwide television networks portfolio includes 124 channel feeds available in 159 countries, reaching more than 840 million households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE’s premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT owns US production company Embassy Row and is a part owner of cable channel Game Show Network (GSN), 3D channel 3net, premier horror/thriller website and VOD service FEARnet and national U.S media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premier national advertising sales companies and handles the commercial inventory in SPT’s syndicated series as well as in U.S. digital businesses including FEARnet, DrOz.com and PlayStation.

Adult Swim (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s network offering original and acquired animated and live-action series for young adults. Airing nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. (ET/PT), Adult Swim is basic cable’s #1 network with persons 18-34 and 18-49, and is seen in 99 million U.S. homes.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Update: Here’s a statement from McGruder about the show’s return:

As the world now knows, The Boondocks will be returning for a fourth season, but I will not be returning with it. I’d like to extend my gratitude to Sony and Adult Swim for three great seasons.

I created The Boondocks two decades ago in college, did the daily comic for six years, and was showrunner on the animated series for the first three seasons. The Boondocks pretty much represents my life’s work to this point. Huey, Riley, and Granddad are not just property to me. They are my fictional blood relatives. Nothing is more painful than to leave them behind.

To quote a great white man, “Hollywood is a business”. And to quote another great white man, “Don’t hold grudges”.

What has never been lost on me is the enormous responsibility that came with The Boondocks – particularly the television show and it’s relatively young audience. It was important to offend, but equally important to offend for the right reasons. For three seasons I personally navigated this show through the minefields of controversy. It was not perfect. And it definitely was not quick. But it was always done with a keen sense of duty, history, culture, and love. Anything less would have been simply unacceptable.

As for me, I’m finally putting a life of controversy and troublemaking behind me with my upcoming Adult Swim show, Black Jesus.

What do you think? Do you plan on watching the new episodes of The Boondocks? Do you think the show can work without Aaron McGruder? Would you like to see it return someday?